April, hoping for sunshine, many plantings
March has been remarkably dull, one of the least sunny months I’ve ever recorded, at a time when we are hoping for the first rays of warm sunshine. Nonetheless, it has been mild (nights average 5C, days 11.5C), and growth is okay if not brilliant. There are tons of plantings you can make now, as in transplants 3 to 5 weeks old, and new sowings direct. See my newsletter update for those details.
Until late April, I cover all new seeds and transplants with fleece, as in the photo. While under cover, we have huge pickings of new salad from 6-7 month old plants.
Knowledge Packs
From the online courses, we have created these bundles of information. The two completely new ones are Pests, and Diseases.
The most common pest currently here, is slugs. No dig makes a huge difference by allowing higher populations of slug predators such as toads and ground beetles. Also it helps to have no weeds, so there are fewer leaves for slugs to hide under. We are also seeing many rabbit holes this spring, and fleece covers are great against them.
Do you fleece or cover your asparagus now the spears are emerging? We’re in north Wales, 250m above sea level but I think our night time temperatures are similar to yours. First time growing it and I’m beside myself with excitement!
That is nice and I don’t fleece it ever. Might be worth it for you.
Thanks Charles. I watched your new video last night which had already answered my question – I should have just waited!
Hello Charles, and thank you for the inspiration and advice on your website and social media. Loving your module trays too, they are much easier to use than any I’ve tried before. I have a question about interplanting veg among daffodils and tulips. Do you think it’s OK to plant out runner beans (later on!) among daffodils and tulips that are dying back? I’ve read that daffodils are poisonous so I’m not sure, but just aiming to make the best use of space. Thank you 😊
I would do that Emily. I think that ‘advice’ is confusing because what they’re suggesting is that daffodil leaves are poisonous to eat. They’re still good for soil and to put on the compost heap if you want to. Or just allow leaves to die back, but beware of slugs on your new plantings.
Thanks for your appreciation. I’m happy to be helping!
Thank you very much, I’ll give it a go and see how it works. Good point about the slugs! Enjoy the warmer weather heading our way next week.
Hello Charles,
I’m having trouble with some of my modules sowings, particularly peas and chickpeas in that, when I check on them in the morning, they have been dug up and nibbled at. I’m guessing it’s mice and have tried many things to deter them, all of which seem to work at first and then they figure a way around it. I have my trays on top of overturned boxes so they can’t climb up (supposedly), have covered them with mesh and left out other seeds (sunflower, for birds originally) to drag them away from the seedlings, alas they keep picking. Have you had these issues and if so, what are your tips?
I have also noticed ants being very curious about my plantings: could they cause any damage?
Thanks a million!
Hi Millie, yes mice can be quite a problem and lose you a whole crop. I don’t hesitate to set traps if I suspect them present. I appreciate you maybe don’t want to do that but I feel sometimes we need to intervene in this way. They are one of many lifeforms and sometimes the balance gets out of hand.
Ants on the other hand are more difficult to control but I find that moisture is the best remedy. Maybe water around the edges near your plant trays. Adding chilli to the water is a help.
Another on pea germination: mine didn’t germinate until I soaked them overnight and put the swollen seeds in our warm cellar – then they all came up very rapidly!
Hi Charles, I started a garden this year (put carboard and compost on the lawn last autumn) and I’ve been having problems with wireworms lately, especially them eating the roots of lettuce. how do you deal with them? I recon it’s only a problem with new beds, what is your experience?
Ah bother, they can be difficult although not too common. If I see failing plants, I lift them gently and extricate the wireworms to cut them, and it’s good to have spare plants where possible
I had a lot of issues with lettuce root aphids in new beds the year before last. No problems last year now beds are established.
Hopefully you’ll find the same.
Thankyou Ruth. I think that’s a coincidence about the stage of bed maturity because some summers they are bad, and some summers they are not bad, in beds of different ages I find. We had a lot last year and few the year before!
Ele again with another question if that’s not too cheeky! My salad in the polytunnel is now bolting and toms, chillies and aubergines are not ready to be planted to take their place and butternut, cucumbers and melons not yet sown! How can I best avoid a gap at this time with bare soil when growing conditions are so perfect? I have some beetroot ready to plant outside but I was wondering if I could plant those inside for an earlier crop ut stuck as to what else could work. I’d love some ideas.
from Seed, there is not much time so it would be something like rubbish. If you transplant beetroot that will probably get in the way for of and detract from your tomatoes et cetera. If you have plants of spinach and lettuce, they could crop for a little while, also coriander.
However, and mainly it doesn’t sound right to me that your salad is finishing already. Here for example the salad rocket is rising to flower but we are still picking leaves, and we still have lots of mustard leaves, Claytonia which also is sending up some flowers but they are reduced by regular picking, and we still have loads of kale, chard, endive and lettuce from picking of the outer leaves, also spinach and parsley. Maybe it’s something to do with your method of picking, or soil quality may need improving with compost.
I still have a couple of weeks of salad cropping left and the endive will likely keep going a bit longer than that but I will have quite a few gaps as mizuna and red frills have definitely finished. I suspect I should have been more vigilant with watering – my compost seems to dry out really easily which I think may be too much biochar. It’s all good learning! Thank you for your support and willingness to share your experiences.
Similarly to last year, I have very poor germination of sugar snap peas in modules in the polytunnel. Most have rotted despite being really careful not to over-water. They’re in homemade sieved compost. Is it possible that mt mix just holds too much water? I also had the same problem with sweetcorn last year and would really like to get to the bottom of it especially since seed is becoming so much more expensive! Thank you.
Hi Ele, it could be one or more of three things. You never know when buying seed how fresh it is, so let’s hope your seed is good.
Then it’s a question of night temperature and we’ve had many cold nights recently, and polytunnels do not hold warmth at night. Sometimes they are colder than outside, at night. That can stop germination even if days are warm. That’s why I recommend germinating seeds in the house where nights are much warmer. Just for that first week after sowing.
Finally question of compost, it may be that yours is a little soggy, hard to say but it could be worth mixing with a little perlite oh vermiculite for new sowings.
Thank you that’s really helpful 🙂 I’ll sow some more tomorrow and keep them indoors as suggested. If that doesn’t work I’ll try adding to the compost though I try not to buy anything in if I can help it – not always easy!
I find peas difficult. Mine rotted last year. The freshest seeds seem to germinate the best or it could be previous suppliers . It’s hard to tell 🥹
It sounds like seed quality Deborah, from being too old
Hi Charles, on a similar theme to the previous email, more than half of the 9 Savoy cabbage i overwintered seem to be developing flower heads. I only started no dig at the back end of last year, so I was late sowing my cabbage, spinach and spring onions to overwinter, hence they were quite small when I planted them out in December. Could that be the reason for them flowering? I suppose I can always strip the leaves and eat them as spring greens 🥬, cheers Ian
Hi Ian
Yes it’s a question of timing and I’m afraid you are too late transplanting after being too late sowing! July is the latest date for sowing Savoy cabbage so they are in the ground by August. Point being that spring is their flowering time. However big they are, they flower now.
I would cut the whole plant and eat what you can because the stem will now become more woody.
Thank you Charles, I guess you live and learn! I forgot to say I used your seed trays for the first time this spring and what a fantastic piece of design. The size means that I can fit all my seedlings in my mini 3 tier greenhouse and when it came to transplanting them they push out so easily, absolutely brilliant 👍, cheers Ian
Nice to hear Ian, happy they work for you.
My spinach is bolting.
Isn’t this too early.
Is it okay to try and sow carrots in the rain?
I presume you mean overwintered spinach. And that is then possible for it to be bolting already, especially of varieties such as giant winter.
You can sow carrots in the rain but you have to keep the seed packet dry and if seeds get damp in your hand, you can’t use them later